23Aug

Does Your Recruiter “Speak” Your Industry

Working with a professional recruiter, whether an employer or employee, can be one of the best decisions, as there are many benefits.

For the employer:

It opens the door to quality candidates who would otherwise be working privately with a professional recruiter.
It saves valuable time since the recruiter manages all the details of the process of weeding through all prospects.
It saves money as a quality recruiter will know what you’re looking for and is invested in you, saving you time and money retraining someone new.
Their experience allows them to help you navigate an accurate job description and drill down your company’s cultural needs.

For the employee:

Since employers don’t openly advertise openings, a recruiter will have insight into more opportunities.
You will have more visibility as companies who realize the benefit of working with a recruiter will prioritize who they bring to them.
Expert advice from a recruiter is invaluable as they’ve been through this process many times and understand the needs of their clients, the employer.
If you’re currently employed, a professional recruiter will ensure complete privacy so that you don’t jeopardize your current position.

The above points highlight just some of the benefits of using the services of a professional recruiter. However, there is something we didn’t address, and it should be one of the most crucial requirements to look for when partnering with a reputable company.

When interviewing a potential recruiter, you need to ask about their experience in your industry. To further narrow the questions, drill down to the specific positions you need to fill within that industry.

Many recruiters claim to be able to work with every sector, which makes it challenging to keep up with focusing on top talent in every field.

Sure, you may give them all the questions you would like covered, but if they don’t know how to dissect and analyze the responses, you may end up meeting with unqualified candidates and wasting your valuable time.

For instance, let’s say you’re a technology company. Someone with just a general knowledge of that industry won’t be familiar with the necessary terms, acronyms, and skill levels to properly communicate with the employer and potential candidates. A recruiter who specializes in specific industries will continuously take steps to educate themselves in that industry.

When the recruiter is actively interviewing on your behalf and demonstrate their clear knowledge of your company and the position they’re seeking to fill, you look better to prospects.

This level of understanding attracts top talent who may help fill a future pipeline with people like themselves.

Think about it, which option would you choose:

A recruiter with “General” Experience with some understanding of your industry but wouldn’t be able to hold a professional, knowledge-based conversation with a potential candidate.

OR

A recruiter with “Specialized” Experience who lives and breathes your industry who can ask the right questions to separate the “fakes” from the qualified talent

Your employees enable your company to continue to move forward and grow. Do your research and trust your unique search needs to professionals who genuinely understand your business.

31Mar

Mature businessman in the office making a phone to recruiter

Employers – Reap the Benefits When Honest With Your Recruiter

Part of a recruiter’s responsibility is to manage their candidate’s expectations and provide the employer with the best fit. These factors include the right experience, skillset, and mindset to match the company’s culture.

The following blog is to help employers better understand how we can best work together for the absolute best outcome.

The candidate sent to you just wasn’t your cup of tea. Should you give your recruiter the reason(s)?

YES! A top-notch recruiter will rarely be off-the-mark when they send you their candidate’s shortlist.

Both the recruiter and candidate have traveled an intense path to get to this point; explaining why it’s a “no” in further detail will go a long way to help both the recruiter and candidate to have more success in the future.

If the candidate was late, appeared frumpled, or didn’t smell fresh, was rude or unprepared, those are legitimate reasons, and if working with an experienced recruiter, it should RARELY happen.

The recruiter spends hours working with the candidate to get a true sense of their demeanor as their reputation depends on your satisfaction.

There are also instances where it may not be about the candidate’s skills or experience but something that rubbed you the wrong way. We’ve heard it all:

Did the candidate show up far too early and caused a mild interruption while your staff tried to make them comfortable ahead of schedule?
Did the candidate abbreviate or mispronounce your name?
Did they appear nervous and repeatedly use “um” in between words?
Were you having a bad day, and the time you thought you had for the interview was interrupted by a client emergency?

We all have our pet peeves, but the employer is the leader, and your opinion is valued. If one of the above, or similar, went “wrong,” we highly encourage you to be open to what the candidates’ skills and experience can bring to your company.

With open communication, something the recruiter can tackle on your behalf, you can overcome the more minor pet peeves.

Whether it’s something minor or even more severe, we urge you to be honest with the recruiter about your decision. It will help both the recruiter and candidate for future interviews.

There are current trends with other employers that you’re not ready to embrace right now.

Many companies are offering remote opportunities, and it may happen in the future for you, but you’re just not there yet. Be honest about that, and if you can offer a safe environment, we will know that’s a deal-breaker if we have a candidate that is only seeking to work from home.

Let us know if the door is slightly open for that scenario should we find the perfect fit to decide based on the individual.

If you are looking for someone who doesn’t have one foot out the door at 5 pm, please let us know that. We may have the perfect candidate, but he/she may have personal obligations that require them to be home at a specific time. There are many ways to compromise so that it’s a win-win.

The more we know upfront, the better we can serve your needs. An experienced recruiter with years of experience under their belt can be a sounding board to walk through some of the unknowns.

There may be something holding you back simply because you “don’t know what you don’t know.” Be open, as a recruiter’s goal should always be to find you the best long-term fit.

Exclusive Relationship, or Not?

Recruiters will tell you the exclusive relationship is the best scenario, and they’re right. However, if they are inexperienced or not proactive, it’s a lousy situation for the employer. A qualified recruiter will request an exclusive agreement because they will invest what is needed to:

Reach out to the candidates who they know would fit the bill.
Make those calls to the passive job seekers with who they’ve developed a confidential relationship. These are the most difficult to reach because they are not openly looking as they are interested in a change but currently in a position.
Once they identify the candidates, they will go through all the vetting stages to ensure only those who indeed would be a good fit for your company make the “hot” list.

It’s not to say they wouldn’t implement the above steps if you did not agree on an exclusive relationship. Still, it’s easier to bring one of their highly-qualified and currently employed applicant to the surface if it’s a more exclusive nature.